Cele|bitchy | Eddie Izzard, 54, completes 27 marathons in 27 days: admirable or nuts? Eddie Izzard, 54, completes 27 marathons in 27 days: admirable or nuts? Charitable Causes , Eddie Izzard 54 year-old comedian Eddie Izzard has just completed 27 marathons in 27 days, raising almost $2 million for Sports Relief. He designed his South African challenge as a tribute to President Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in jail. Eddie, who has a new cop show in the works, ran despite heat exhaustion, dehydration and sunstroke. This marks his second Sports Relief, which is a biennial fundraiser for Comedy Relief . In 2009 he completed the equivalent of 43 marathons in 52 days . Eddie originally attempted the 27/27 challenge in 2012 but had to pull out due to health reasons. Just five days in to this latest endeavor, Eddie was medically advised to rest . That rest day left him to run a double marathon on Day 27, which he did last Sunday.

On Sunday, British comedian Eddie Izzard finished a double marathon in Johannesburg, South Africa – a great feat on its own, but those races completed a larger charity challenge in which he ran 27 marathons in 27 days. Izzard, 54, completed his final 26.2-mile run at the feet of a large statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela, in whose honor the challenge is structured. (He ran one marathon each day for every year Mandela was imprisoned.) Izzard’s efforts raised more than $1 million for this year’s Sport Relief, according to the BBC, a biennial charity effort. At the run’s end, Izzard was at a literal loss for words (and almost out of breath) as he spoke to the BBC, at one point breaking into tears. “Thank you. It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m very tired,” he said. “So thank you for everyone who’s donated. This was tough. So don’t do this at home. I don’t know if I can say much more.” [From People] Side note: Eddie was not racing. He executed each marathon as his body allowed, which included walking or slow jogging at times.

This is a good article that talks about the physical toll and what his recovery is expected to be. Eddie’s passion has always fueled him. He is known as a strong voice for transvestism, stepping on stage in a dress before his cross-dressing could be leaked in a lurid manner. The film Believe documents Eddie’s determined comeback to regain his confidence after being accused of fraud for recycling material in 2000. Long vocal about politics, he has declared he will run for mayor of London in 2019 unless a strong Labour candidate runs, in which case he will run for Parliament. Eddie loves to set goals for himself and doesn’t stop until he meets them. When John Cleese calls you “ the lost Python ,” you would likely be allowed to rest on your laurels. Not Eddie, he looks for the next Brass Ring to grab and I respect the hell out of his determination.

How Eddie Izzard ran 27 marathons in 27 days for Sport Relief | Daily Mail Online comments Eddie Izzard, 54, completed 27 marathons in 27 days and raised more than £1million for Comic Relief He is, without doubt, one of the least likely marathon runners of all time. A 54-year-old cross-dressing comedian with a middle-aged paunch, who smokes and drinks, Eddie Izzard is hardly what you’d call an athlete. And yet, on Sunday afternoon, with the 30c South African heat beating down on his back, he staggered across the finish line of his 27th marathon in 27 days — a remarkable feat of endurance, all to raise money for charity. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair matted with sweat and a painful grimace etched across his face. ‘It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m very tired,’ he gasped. It certainly sounds unpleasant.

On his 707.4‑mile (1,139km) trek across South Africa, Izzard battled dehydration, injury and sunstroke and, on his final day, he had to run a double marathon — 52.4 miles (84.4km) — after missing a day when he fell ill and was rushed to hospital. It’s more than most amateur athletes, even super-fit runners, could achieve in a lifetime, let alone in less than four weeks. Izzard’s exertions, which have raised more than £1.35 million for Sport Relief, have been rightly praised, with some suggesting he deserves a place on the next Honour’s List. So how on earth did he do it? If he can do it, could other middle-aged non-athletes do the same? And what has been the physical cost to his body? RELATED ARTICLES Share The secret to Izzard’s success certainly doesn’t lie in a gruelling training regime. The comic famously did just five weeks’ preparation for his previous multi-marathon endeavour — running 43 of them around the UK in 51 days in 2009.

Although he gave up eating sugar in 2013, he can hardly be said to have transformed his diet (after finishing his final race on Sunday, he was photographed swigging from a bottle of champagne) and his training was limited to several shorter runs of ten to 15 miles. It’s not unheard of to complete marathons on little or no training — several hundred entrants to next month’s London marathon will do just that — but running 27 back-to-back requires far more planning, from what time of day to start running to how fast you go. Comedian Izzard, finished his gruelling marathon challenge under a giant statue of Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, and described it as the 'hardest thing he's ever done' John Brewer, professor of applied sports science at St Mary’s University in London, says Izzard’s technique was to do each race slowly. ‘If he was going to run them competitively, he would have struggled,’ Prof Brewer explains. ‘Instead, he used a combination of slow jogging and steady walking, which puts far less pressure on the body.

‘The physical impact is intense: your feet hit the ground around 20,000 times each, which puts the full force of your body weight through your hip, knee and ankle joints.’ Sticking to a slow, steady pace — around 12 to 13 minutes a mile — meant Izzard was able to avoid the worst of this. Prof Brewer says running slowly also helped to keep his heart rate down, to around 150 beats per minute, which stopped him being overwhelmed by exhaustion. ‘This pace is perfectly manageable with a healthy heart — with the right motivation, any of us could do it,’ he adds. Naysayers may see this as reason to protest: surely doing a marathon so slowly barely counts as ‘running’? Izzard is pictured beneath a statue of former president Nelson Mandela at the government's Union Buildings in Pretoria after completing his mammoth trek But Izzard’s times were far from a snail’s pace — his fastest, on Day 22, took a respectable five hours, 34 minutes, and the slowest was nine hours 45 minutes.

To put this into context, the fastest London marathon time — by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang in 2014 — is two hours, four minutes, while the longest took five full days. Mental strength has also played a large part in the dramatic lifestyle shift that has turned Izzard from flamboyant stand-up comic to multi-marathon runner. Until seven years ago, he was _simply one of Britain’s leading funnymen, having risen through the ranks in the Eighties and Nineties and made a name for himself as a star of stage and screen. As early as 1992, he began speaking openly about his taste for cross-dressing and often appeared in public wearing women’s dresses. Revealing his hobby had no impact on his career — if anything, his fanbase grew — and over the years Izzard, who has homes in London and Los Angeles, amassed a fortune of £12.5 million. ‘It sounds bizarre, but ever since that point I revealed I was a cross-dresser, I’ve been able to do quite difficult things,’ he has said.

Throughout his journey, Izzard explored the history of South Africa and Mandela and visited communities, organisations and families that have all been helped by the work of Comic Relief. He is pictured on Day 25 ‘Walking out of the door wearing heels and make-up was so hard. But it prepared me for everything else difficult I’ve ever done.’ These days, Izzard dubs himself an ‘action transvestite’. He left the stilettos at home for his latest challenge — ‘Women don’t wear high heels when they run, either’ — though his nails were painted red. He employed several unorthodox techniques to help him complete the distance, which is equivalent to running from John O’Groats to Land’s End, with a detour into Cardiff halfway through. First, he wrapped his feet entirely in bandages to prevent blisters. Next, he cut his toenails to the quick to stop them rubbing against his toes inside his trainers. During the series of marathons, he spent every evening in an hour-long ice bath, a common practice among elite athletes because it helps muscles recover faster. At 54, Izzard is twice the age of the average marathon runner, but this will have been an advantage.

‘As people get older, they tend to run longer distances,’ says Prof Brewer. ‘Their fast-twitch muscle fibres, used to run sprints or shorter distances, become less efficient and, with age and experience, they develop the mental aptitude to push themselves harder.’ After crossing the line to cheers, applause and chants of 'Eddie, Eddie, Eddie', the 54-year-old comedian swigged champagne from the bottle in celebration But even the best-laid plans, experts say, won’t have been enough to protect him from the inevitable damage that is done by extreme running. From over-exerting your heart to causing stress fractures in your lower legs, runners can do all sorts of damage to their bodies. Scientists have found that the average runner actually shrinks in height — by 1-2cm — during a race, as each step causes the discs in the vertebrae to compress. ‘You end up a few centimetres shorter than when you started out,’ says Andy Dixon, editor of the magazine Runners’ World UK. Luckily, this shrinkage is only temporary and will reverse after a few hours or a good night’s sleep.

Long-distance running has been associated with hair loss, caused when hair follicles are killed off by low iron levels, which is common after vigorous exercise. Runners have also reported blurred vision, as pressure in the head causes the cornea — the front part of the eye — to swell, and a syndrome known as ‘runner’s face’, a withering of the facial muscles caused by repetitive exercise. In the short term, Izzard will be suffering from dehydration — having sweated between one and two litres a day — and low energy levels, with each marathon using between 2,500 and 3,000 calories. Over 26.2 miles, the body literally starts to ‘eat’ itself by breaking down its own fat and muscle reserves and burning them to create energy. Izzard grips a bottle of water as he addresses media reporters beneath a statue of Nelson Mandela in Pretoria If Izzard doesn’t eat and drink properly in the weeks to come, he risks a deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals. He may also be at risk of developing anaemia or iron deficiency, caused by red blood cells being crushed in the capillaries of each foot as it hit the ground.

Still, as he spends the next few weeks recovering from his super-human feat, there is one reason to be cheerful. Neuroscientists at Cambridge University have shown that pounding the pavement boosts brain power, with the average marathon runner scoring better than non-runners in memory tests. Izzard would do well to put this to good use, and the next time he’s tempted to put his body through such a ridiculous feat, remember just how much it hurt. 100 marathons in 100 days! Businessman, 46, takes on huge challenge to honour promise he made to a dying friend | Daily Mail Online 100 marathons in 100 days! Businessman, 46, takes on huge challenge to honour promise he made to a dying friend Matthew Loddy got up at 6.30am yesterday, stretched his aching bones, ate a bowl of porridge, and 'went to work'. To him, recently, that means running a marathon. It was his 70th marathon in almost as many days. Today he runs his 71st. Then he plans to run another each day until he has done 100.

Few have ever dared to attempt such an epic feat. On a mission: Mathew Loddy is running 100 marathons in 100 days, heading from Portugal to the UK with his 84-year-old father as support Matthew, 46, the managing director of a scaffolding firm from the Home Counties, is partial to a pint and had never run 26.2 miles in one go until a few weeks before he started. But, honouring a promise to a dying friend to help cancer charities, he set off from the Algarve, Portugal, on January 14, waved off by wife Karen and daughters, India, 20, and Jemima, 16, who are now back home in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire. Running alone along the quiet coast roads, over rugged hills and repeatedly through the pain barrier back to England via Spain, he attracts little attention except a cheery 'hola' from occasional passersby and beeps from oncoming lorries. His 'support team' is his 84 year old father Tom, a retired engineer.

He drives a couple of miles ahead in a Mercedes van, packed with high calorie foods like pasta and rice for energy, electrolyte drinks to stave off dehydration and a medical kit. Every step of the way: His supportive father Tom drives alongside Mathew with supplies There is never a dull moment. Tom once put the van out of action by filling it with petrol instead of diesel. Confused by Spanish road signs, he has also got lost several times, so was not there to hand out drinks mid-marathon, prompting some choice Anglo-Saxon from Matthew (luckily the locals could not understand). 'It's an experience being with dad,' he laughs. Nights, spent in camp sites or cheap hotels, involve a different race - who will get to sleep first ahead of the other's snoring. Nature, at least, has been kind: Matthew was worried wild dogs notorious for killing sheep in northern Spain might attack him, but so far has suffered only a nip on the ankle from a miniature poodle. Unfortunately, there have been worse injuries. He had to go to hospital three times because of an infected blister on his foot. It stopped him running for three days, but he has done extra miles since to maintain his overall marathon-a-day average.

Another town down: Mathew runs out of Camangu in the north of Spain For all the Carry On-style capers, Matthew is serious about the target: raising £100,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust and St Francis Hospice in Berkhamsted, where his friend Phil Latham was cared for before he died aged 36 from stomach cancer in 2010. 'It once looked like Phil might pull through and we talked about doing something for young cancer sufferers,' said Mathew. 'We thought of a sponsored walk to the Algarve where we've both had great holidays. 'When we knew he was not going to make it, I went to see him. In those situations I resort to humour. I said, "What's going to happen with this sponsored walk?

I I'll have to do it myself", then I changed it to 100 marathons in 100 days finishing in England.' BY NUMBERS – 100 MARATHONS IN 100 DAYS 1: cup of coffee Matthew Loddy allows himself after each marathon as a treat 2.5 stone: weight he has lost since started training 3: visits to hospital with infected blister on foot since first marathon 3hr 35min 41sec: his fastest time for a marathon so far 7hr 19min 06sec: his slowest time for a marathon so far 10: pairs of trainers he brought with him to run in, worn in rotation 13 miles: longest distance he'd previously run - in 1999 43: number of marathons comedian Eddie Izzard ran in 51 days for Sport Relief in 2009 52: consecutive marathons completed by Japanese runner Akinori Kusuda at age of 65 in 2009 100: marathons completed in 100 days on treadmills by ex-soldier Mike Buss for

 Help for Heroes in 2010 365: marathons run in 365 days by Belgian Stefaan Engels last year - a world record £400: Matthew Loddy has spent on bandages, painkillers and electrolyte drinks so far 2620: total miles he aims to run 2,700: calories it is estimated he burns on each marathon £100,000: amount he aims to raise for cancer charities Yesterday Mr Latham's widow Karen, of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, said: 'I'm immensely proud of Matthew's commitment and absolute guts.

Phil would be so proud of what Matthew is doing not only in his name but in that of our daughters Holly and Evie.' Matthew completed his 50th marathon in Santander in a time of 3hr 35min 41sec - his quickest so far. From there he is running over the Pyrenees, up through France, then will incorporate a stint on a running machine in a train in the tunnel for the cross-Channel leg. Number 100 will be the Virgin London Marathon on April 22. 'It's a battle every day,' Matthew said. 'My calves are struggling like hell. The tissue around my ankles has swollen so much my ankles don't really work. 'People said I wouldn't last five days. But I told a guy who was going to die that I was going to do this - so I am going to do it.' He began training on September 1 last year, receiving advice from experienced marathon runner Cliff King. Matthew did his first practice marathon - the first marathon of his life - on October 26, and his first consecutive marathons on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Once a talented footballer on the books of Manchester United aged 19, he said: 'Long distance running is not my thing. Cliff taught me to treat each step, each mile as one less I have to do. It's as mentally tough as it physically. 'I treat each run like going to work now, a tough job that has to be done.' TV personality Sheryl Gascoigne, a friend of the Loddy family who plans with her model daughter Bianca to join Matthew for part of a marathon to help raise awareness, said: 'He's so dogged - the only way he'll stop is if they have to stretcher him away.' Each run is authenticated via a sat nav watch which logs his routes and times. Afterwards he packs his legs with ice to minimise injuries and washes his feet with iodine to stop infection. Tom said: 'He can barely walk at the end of each run. But the next day he does it again. He's a determined so and so.' So how will he celebrate finishing the 100th? 'With a pint of London Pride,' said Matthew.

'I haven't had a beer since the day before I started training - and I can't wait.' After 1,100 miles and 52 days, Eddie Izzard has finishing line in sight | Culture | The Guardian Eddie Izzard After 1,100 miles and 52 days, Eddie Izzard has finishing line in sight Eddie Izzard has been given a warm welcome wherever he has gone on his marathon journey and has logged his route, his location, and his injuries on Twitter Main. Photograph: Alfie Hitchcock/Rex features Monday 14 September 2009 19.05 EDT First published on Monday 14 September 2009 19.05 EDT Close This article is 7 years old As a transvestite comic who is prone to put on weight and had never run farther than five miles, Eddie Izzard is not the obvious candidate to run 1,100 miles around Britain.

But the 47-year-old stand-up and actor will today drag his aching limbs from the Olympic park to Trafalgar Square in the last of an astonishing 43 marathons he has completed in just 52 days. Pausing in sight of St Albans Cathedral to demolish a chicken mayonnaise sandwich and chocolate biscuits, Izzard admitted his charity run from London to Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh, in aid of Sports Relief, had become "science fiction" and he was beyond exhaustion. "If you imagine you drive in a tiny Mini across a wasteland where there is no petrol station and the petrol gauge is always on empty, that is me. "I put a little in every night and the needle moves and then the next day I'm below empty again. I am falling asleep when I'm talking to people." Strapping up his aching ankles and horrific blisters on his toes, Izzard will attempt a personal best today with a sub-five-hour marathon. The best time he has recorded so far is five hours 48 minutes. Izzard undertook just five weeks' training in preparation for the marathons, which began on 26 July.

He has run at least a marathon every day – sometimes as much as 31 miles – with just one rest day a week and a couple of days for travel to Northern Ireland. Twittering as he went, Izzard has run with a modest support team, consisting of his tour manager, a sports therapist and an ice-cream van, which dispenses free ice-creams as he goes. In St Albans yesterday, people cheered and beeped their car horns in support. At times, he has taken on the character of a Pied Piper in his run. Izzard said one highlight was when he paused at a fast food drive-through to eat a burger and a group of girls decided to run with him. Some teenage boys then kept up with him for five miles. In Liverpool, two teenagers on bikes thought Izzard was flagging so they rode with him for miles to support him. Izzard said a high point during his marathon was running up Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh. The low point was two weeks into his marathon running. "My feet started coming apart," he said. "They got bloated with water, swelled up and rubbed up against my shoes.

Every step was painful." He has been trying to take in 5,000-6,000 calories a day, starting with porridge in the morning and with cakes in the afternoon. But the 43 marathons have been made harder by his failure to sleep properly at night. "My lack of ability to rest and recuperate has been the hardest thing," he said. "If you over-train you don't sleep and this is the ultimate over-training." His friends and family were not surprised when he decided to undertake 43 marathons, he said. "When you've done gigs in French before, nobody is really surprised when you say you are going to run 43 marathons," he said. After this feat, Izzard undertakes another marathon – this time by car and plane. He begins a 44-date tour, including his biggest ever gig in Madison Square Garden in New York. He appreciated the welcome he got wherever he went and particularly enjoyed being in the countryside. There is just one problem: when he tells people he has run 43 marathons they think he is joking.

Along the way, Izzard – who now calls himself an "action transvestite" – was nearly run over on the A77 in Stranraer and, high on adrenalin, staged an impromptu gig in Penrith. As well as raising thousands for Sports Relief, Izzard hopes to inspire people to embrace the London Olympics. "We've never really had that party to celebrate the Olympics but sometimes you've got to grab these things and go for it. The Americans went to the moon. The Olympics is our going-to-the-moon." Comedians Eddie Izzard, Ron White to perform shows at Classic Center Posted October 26, 2015 09:45 pm - Updated October 26, 2015 10:55 pm By hilary.butschek@onlineathens.com Comedians Eddie Izzard, Ron White to perform shows at Classic Center Comedian Ron White hosts the CMT "Artists of the Year" show held at the Music City Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, in Nashville, Tenn.

(Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP) Eddie Izzard poses for photographers upon arrival at the gala celebration in honour of Kevin Spacey in central London, Sunday, April 19, 2015. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP) English comedian and actor Eddie Izzard brings his improvisational stand-up routine to The Classic Center in December. Tickets for the Dec. 17 show go on sale Thursday for $41 to $59. Izzard, known for his absurdist routines presented as long rants with a punch line, has toured the world since 2013 on his “Force Majeure” tour. Most recently, he visited France for multiple shows where he performed in French. Izzard’s tour takes him to five continents and 25 countries, including the United States, where he will visit all 50 states. The Englishman has a following in the U.S. — his 1998 recorded performance of his “Dress to Kill” show won two Emmys in 2000 and he is the first solo stand-up comedian to have at show at the Hollywood Bowl. Izzard also had a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden.

While pursuing a career as a stand-up comedian, Izzard also has roles in numerous films and TV shows. Izzard acted in the movies “Oceans Twelve,” “Oceans Thirteen” and “Valkyrie” and the TV show “United States of Tara,” among others. Izzard doesn’t just stick to entertaining with comedy. In 2009, he participated in a marathon of marathon running. To raise money for the charity event Sport Relief, Izzard ran a marathon six days a week for seven weeks, which is a total of 43 marathons in 51 days. In 2013, Izzard received the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism presented by the Humanist Community at Harvard University. Izzard will perform a stand-up routine at The Classic Center at 8 p.m. Dec. 17. Another comedian also stopping by The Classic Center in the coming months is Ron White, made famous on the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour.” White performs at 8 p.m. Jan. 14. Tickets are on sale for $42 to $52.

White is known by his nickname “Tater Salad” based on a joke he told during the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” with Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy. That tour traveled to 270 cities in three years and made $35 million. White has had two one-hour TV comedy specials on Comedy Central and has also written a book called “Ron ‘Tater Salad’ White: I Had the Right to Remain Silent … But I Didn’t Have the Ability.” His book became a New York Times best seller. White’s comedy albums have topped the Billboard comedy charts and more than 14 million copies have sold.

Follow reporter Hilary Butschek on Twitter @hilarylbutschek or at Comedians Eddie Izzard, Ron White to perform shows at Classic Center - By Review: Eddie Izzard brings humor and intellect to Chicago with Force Majeure - AXS Review: Eddie Izzard brings humor and intellect to Chicago with Force Majeure By: Laurie Fanelli AXS Contributor Jun 8, 2014 73 73 16541761 6 y2014m06d08 11837 Force Majeure , meaning a superior force, is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's current world tour, but it is also an apt description of the man himself. In 2009, Izzard ran 43 marathons in 51 days to raise money for the UK charity Sports Relief. Last night, his impressive drive and endurance came in handy once again as he performed a wickedly smart stand-up set at the Chicago Theatre , after performing three sets in France, in three languages, just 24 hours earlier to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

As the Chicago crowd waited for Izzard to take the stage at 8 p.m. on June 8, excitement filled the room. Audience members took photos of Izzard's hypnotic backdrop as they shared stories of their previous experiences seeing the versatile comedian. When his iconic silhouette emerged on the stage, Izzard was greeted with thunderous applause as fans eagerly awaited the comedian's account of his historic accomplishment in Normandy. Izzard shared the unbelievable experience of performing streamlined versions of his set in English, French and German before joking that all of the world's nations have the shared experience of dealing with political extremists. He further explained that these illogical, but very loud groups are equally dispersed throughout the world as Germany has the Nazis, the UK has the Independence Party and America has the Tea Party. One of the things that makes Izzard such a great comedian is his ability to fuse his sharp intellect with a light-hearted playfulness. Just as he is fluent in English, German and French, throughout the night he also proved that he is accomplished in the languages of chickens, goats and cows.

One of the best, and most hilarious, examples of the educated yet accessible nature of Izzard's comedy came from a story involving God, Darth Vader and a plate of canteen carbonara. Later in the evening, Izzard had the crowd rolling as he presented an alternative version of “The Lord of the Rings” films and a way to actually make the equestrian Olympic sport of dressage must-see TV. Eddie Izzard is uniting the world through comedy one city at a time. He pokes fun at religion, political leaders and world history in a way that is full of laughs without ever coming across as mean-spirited. As he shares his experience of traveling the world with comedy, it becomes clear that everyone speaks the universal language of laughter. Izzard will perform two more nights in Chicago before continuing on across the U.S. throughout June and early July. Tickets to Eddie Izzard's Force Majeure tour are available here .

Celebrity trainer Greg Whyte, the man redefining fitness training - Telegraph Advertisement Celebrity trainer Greg Whyte, the man redefining fitness training Greg Whyte, physical activity expert and personal fitness guru to the likes of Davina McCall and David Walliams, explains the scientific methods behind his success Professor Greg Whyte is a former modern pentathlete Photo: Heathcliff O'Malley By Mark Bailey 1:30PM GMT 09 Mar 2015 Prof Greg Whyte believes – and has proof – that anyone can achieve extraordinary fitness, even dough-bellied middle-aged men and busy working mums. The innovative exercise scientist has successfully trained more than 18 previously lethargic or lumpy celebrities to complete iconic endurance challenges for Sport Relief , helping to raise more than £33 million for charity. He transformed David Walliams from a self-confessed “chubby camp comedian”, who as a child had contrived to fail his Cub Scouts’ sports badge, into a powerful endurance swimmer who conquered the 22-mile English Channel in 2006 and 140 miles of the Thames in 2011 .

When Whyte met Eddie Izzard in 2009 the stand-up didn’t even possess a pair of trainers, but months later he ran 43 marathons in 51 days . And last February Whyte coached the television presenter Davina McCall to run, swim and cycle 500 miles from Edinburgh to London , including a harrowing 1.5-mile swim across icy Windermere. Davina McCall at the start of her Sport Relief challenge in 2014 [PHOTO: REX FEATURES] Related Articles Watch: 95-year-old breaks sprint record 09 Mar 2015 “When I met Davina a few months before the challenge she had injured her hip and knee and she couldn’t swim a length of the pool without stopping. She was terrified of cold water, she had an unbelievably hectic work schedule and she had three kids and a husband to think about,” says Whyte, 47, who last year received an OBE for his work. “Her life is exactly the same as ours. But despite all her time commitments and doubts, she achieved something incredible.

The truth is that we can all do much more than we thought possible.” Whyte is a former modern pentathlete who represented Great Britain at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and won silver at the 1994 World Championships. He now works as a professor in applied sport and exercise science at Liverpool John Moores University and is a director of the Centre for Health and Human Performance in London’s Harley Street . His genius is to translate cutting-edge sports science ideas into deceptively simple, time-friendly formulas that ordinary mortals can adhere to. “It is about using knowledge in a way that accelerates success,” he says. “In the past fitness was about trial and error. Now we can refine training to help people get there quicker.” In his new book, Achieve the Impossible , Whyte has decided to share the nuts and bolts of his methodology. “Success isn’t an accident; you plan for it,” he says.

“Whether you want to swim the Channel, lose half a stone or run your first 10k, the structure is always the same: you analyse your goal, identify what you need to do and work out how to achieve it.” When working on celebrity fitness challenges, Whyte draws on his scientific knowledge to speed up results. Take weight loss, for example. “We used to think of running long, slow distances as the big fat-burner but that doesn’t alter your resting metabolic rate [the energy expended during normal rest and everyday activity].

If you do high-intensity exercise like spinning classes or circuit-training, or introduce 30-second sprint intervals into your runs and bike rides, your resting heart rate will be elevated for hours after you stop, so you will still be burning extra calories when you sit on the sofa in the evening.” Greg Whyte, David Walliams and James Cracknell celebrate arriving on the shores of Morocco after their swim across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa, Spain, in aid of Sport Relief in 2008 [PHOTO: ANTHONY DEVLIN] “Brick sessions”, in which you alternate three or five-minute bursts on the treadmill, rowing machine or cross-trainer for a total of 30 minutes, are one of Whyte’s favourite fat-burning lunchtime routines. By switching activities you constantly redirect blood flow to different muscle groups, enabling you to work at a higher fat-burning intensity for longer. However, he says that normal everyday routines can also have a profound impact on a person’s body shape. “In modern culture we think we can get away with going to the gym for an hour and then sitting or lying down for 23 hours. That’s not true.

When I talk about fitness, I talk about activity, not just exercise. Habitual activity throughout the day, whether it’s walking the kids to school or jogging to the park at lunchtime, is crucial for your everyday health.” Regularly trying new activities, like squash or rowing, can also help: “When you do something new you are technically less efficient and therefore expend more energy.” Whyte is keen to emphasise that the mind plays a crucial role in any health transformation. Tapping into the fields of neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry, he has developed seemingly uncomplicated motivational systems that cleverly mirror the way the brain functions, to stop your commitment levels dipping. “The reason everyone’s New Year fitness resolutions fade away is because we give ourselves one big goal instead of several smaller goals along the way,” he says. “The brain is wired to crave progressive achievements and rewards to keep you motivated. If you have weekly targets to aim for, you reinforce your sense of achievement. Davina would text me whenever she hit a mini-target because she was so proud. Over time that developed her motivation but also her self-belief.

When you hit targets all the time, your confidence inevitably grows.” Professor Greg Whyte is a former modern pentathlete [PHOTO: HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY] A bit of peacocking does no harm to your motivation levels either. “When I did a 20-mile run recently, I crossed it off on a chart on my fridge and all my children and friends saw that and said 'Holy cow’. Others might upload something on Facebook. A reward or recognition can be incredibly powerful.” Mention “diet” to Whyte and he will stare at the ceiling in despair. “They are absolute nonsense,” says the man who has published more than 200 peer-reviewed studies. “You will never sell a book with a title like 'Eat a Healthy Balanced Diet’ but that is exactly what you are looking for. “Whether a diet is based on liquids, meat or fasting, they all work in the short term because they reduce your calorie intake, and they all fail in the long term because they are non-sustainable.

A diet is only effective if it can be sustained and that means three proper meals a day, a good variety of meat, fish and vegetables and the odd treat.” Whyte promotes the complementary values of innovative scientific training methods and common sense, yet he stresses that the key ingredient in any quest for a better body is – and always will be – hard work. “The celebrities I work with know what hard work is because they are incredibly driven and tenacious,” he says. “I remember talking to David Walliams about how he got his Little Britain TV show. It involved years of undetected work on radio shows and the stand-up circuit. That’s why when everybody was saying it would be impossible for him to swim the Channel, I was quietly thinking, 'Yes he can.’ ” Greg Whyte debunks five diet myths Don’t eat carbs “Zero-carb diets are nonsense because we need carbs to fuel the exercise which keeps us fit and healthy. Just control your intake and stick to complex carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta instead of sugary products.” Aim for five a day “It doesn’t matter whether you eat five or eight portions of fruit and veg a day, just that you get a good mix of colours.

Each colour has different nutrients which support your health and fitness in different ways.” Never eat fat “Fat is crucial for energy metabolism, hormone production and brain function, so to have a fat-free diet would be extremely bad for you. Limit your intake of saturated fats and aim for fish oils, olive oils and avocados.” It’s ok to skip a meal “If you miss a meal you will mess up your metabolism and trigger cravings. Eat three meals a day and try to keep them evenly spaced out throughout the day.” Snacks are bad “If you are exercising regularly there is nothing wrong with a healthy snack to keep you feeling full. Go for snacks high in protein, like yogurt or nuts, as opposed to cakes and crisps.” Achieve the Impossible by Prof Greg Whyte (Bantam Press £12.99) is available to order from Telegraph Books at £11.69 + £1.95 p&p. Call 0844 871 1515 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk Inspired to get fit? Be:Fit London , organised by Telegraph Events , is the only event dedicated to women's health & fitness.

Friday 1 - Sunday 3 May 2015, Business Design Centre, Islington, London. Telegraph readers can book tickets for £15 for a limited time. Quote TELEGRAPH at BeFitLondon.com

Question: Which stand-up comedian ran 43 marathons in 52 days in 2009 in order to raise money for Sport Relief?
Answer: Eddie Izzard